Being that yesterday was a rest day, today kicked off the actual workouts for my triathlon aspirations. My first workout was a swim workout and, while I have been swimming on and off for a while, it was a challenging and satisfying workout. Here are the details:
WARM UP:
200 Swim - 200 Kick - 200 Pull
MAIN SET:
4 x 300 @ below 70% with :30 rest
Concentrate on being relaxed in the water and getting the “feel” of your stroke. Speed is not important here. Your stroke count should be even every lap of every repeat.
COOL DOWN:
200 easy swim, continuous
Overall, not a bad workout - 2000 yards. It said it was supposed to take 45 minutes, it actually took a little less than that.
Tomorrow brings and hour and 15 minutes on the bike. We’ll see how that goes…
Sorry it has been so long since I’ve updated. I’ll try to keep everyone up to date a little better from now on, but we’ll see how it goes - I’m not making any promises of daily (or even weekly) posts. I’ll do the best I can!
Today started the first week of a 39 week triathlon training program that I’m using to get in shape for next spring/summer and the triathlon season. Hopefully if everything goes as planned, I’ll update my training here, once a week.
If you are interested, you can look at the training plan here. Monday’s (like today) are a day off - great way to start! Tomorrow is a swim day.
In the end, there are a few little nagging details I need to work out before I have an actual race. For example, I don’t have a bike suitable for a triathlon. I have a bike, actually a really good bike, but it’s one of those “comfort” style bikes. Great for hauling the kids around in the bike trailer and pedaling around the local parks, but I think the 2 inch wide tires and 30 pounds of bike would slow me down a bit in a triathlon. So, with that, if you have - or know anyone that has - a good road bike they’d like to lend me for next spring and summer let me know!
Another detail I need to figure out is what races I’m going to do. I’d like to do the North Mankato triathlon in June, but other than that I’m pretty open to anything within a couple hours drive of the Twin Cities. Any advice is welcome - if you’ve raced somewhere and had a good (or bad) experience, let me know!
I’m totally new to the whole triathlon experience and I’m looking forward to everything it has to offer. From what I can tell so far, this training program will get me in great shape and the constant change of pace will be nice. After only doing running for the last 3 years, getting something different in the mix will be fun!
I’m sure I’ll have more questions and comments as this moves forward. I’ll post them here and I look forward to sharing them with all of you!
I'm glad you were able to find engelsrud.com! My name is Aaron Engelsrud and I live and work in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. I am married and have three boys. When I'm not working I'm a paid-on-call firefighter and an avid runner. Take a look around and leave comment or two!
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At hockey practice with Alex. Reading Runner's World and trying to get inspired. 1 week ago
